OKC Ballet brings triple bill to stage

Oklahoma City Ballet (OKC Ballet) will bring a triple bill to the stage this month that it promises will enthrall audiences, if they will only give it a chance.

“Triple bills typically have less attendance for us than other performances, and I can’t understand why,” said OKC Ballet Marketing Director Amy Haley. “They give the audience a variety of ballets in one evening, and some of the most prestigious choreographers are showcased in these performances.”  

The final performances of the 2017-18 Season will headline with Jiří Kylián’s Petite Mort, a ballet that not many companies have been granted the privilege of performing.  

“It really speaks to the quality of our company,” stated Artistic Director Robert Mills. “Not many companies in the U.S. have been granted the rights to perform this work. To be able to perform one of the most influential choreographer’s [works] in the last 30 years allows us to showcase the incredibly talented dancers that we have here at OKC Ballet.”

Mills continued, “Jiří Kylián is a living legend. He has helped shape what we know today as contemporary ballet. His works are synonymous for ingenious movement invention and partnering while still utilizing the line, shape and form of classical ballet.”

Petite Mort was originally created for the 1991 Salzburg Festival, to celebrate Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart on the anniversary of his death. Kylián uses two of Mozart’s most popular piano concertos, Nos. 21 and 23, as the soundtrack for this work, considered to be one of Kylián’s masterpieces. 

Also on the triple bill is Helen Pickett’s lively 2008 creation Petal. Pickett, who is the resident choreographer of Atlanta Ballet, has created works for companies across the U.S. and abroad.

“Petal is the ballet that made me aware of Helen,” said Mills. “Shortly after seeing Petal I invited Helen to Oklahoma City to create a new work. The result of which was Zephyrus that made its debut in 2010.”

Speaking on her work Petal, Pickett said, “All human beings have these senses, and they connect us. Intimacy is such an important part of a human life – without it, we wither. So how do we break that fourth wall and connect to the audience more than just visually? Let’s celebrate this burst of color, this sound, this touch.”

Mills will also be debuting a new creation during the evening. In the summer of 2017 Mills spent three weeks at the National Choreographers Initiative in Southern California. He began the creation process for this new ballet there. He will build on what was staged in California, using the music of Philip Glass and the Jasper String Quartet. Mills urges people to attend this performance.

“I feel that there is a disconnect between many of our patrons and our triple bills. As an artist, these are the performances that I am most interested in. Our dancers also find the mixed bills exciting to dance. I would encourage people to go, to see for themselves that ballet is an art that is informed by our world in the 21st century. People will find these triple bills more accessible than they think,” Mills said. “Most often these are the living artists, not choreographers from over 100 years ago telling fanciful stories. They are the artists of today. They are relevant now, and I think people will appreciate that.”  

Don’t miss this incredible evening of performances, running April 13-15. For tickets and information, call OKC Ballet at 405-848-TOES (8637) or visit www.okcballet.org.

Photo: Oklahoma City Ballet Principal Dancers Alvin Tovstogray and Miki Kawamura in Petite Mort. Photo by Shevaun Williams and Associates Commercial Photography.